Hallucination, or what?
When I was 18 I had a run in with… Something.
At the time I was convinced I must have been in the early stages of schizophrenia. Now, I have no idea.
It was 2012, I didn’t have my licence yet and I would often walk from town to town to see my friends and frequent house parties.
I am the type of person who will just quietly leave a party when I have had enough. No need for long goodbyes. So it wasn’t unusual for me to be walking 4 or 5 miles, alone, in the early hours of the morning. I actually really enjoyed it.
This experience happened while walking home through a quiet neighborhood. It was around 3am. The street lights were spread thinly, so there were large gaps of darkness which I had to walk through. Not a problem, I was in a good mood and hadn’t seen anyone else so I felt safe.
After walking for a while, I lifted my head and I looked down the long, straight street I was on. I spotted something.
In the middle of the road was a large black bundle. It stood out like a sore thumb in the neat, well kept residential estate. It looked like a full bin bag. Or maybe a black gym bag.
I definitely thought that was weird, but at this point I was just a little curious.
I kept my pace and steadily approached the dark mass in the road. I assumed that as I got closer I would figure out what it was.
But my mind must have been playing tricks on me.
Because what I saw. Was a body. Laying in the middle of the road. Wrapped in black plastic and taped securely.
My heart dropped. I was in total disbelief. What the fuck was I seeing? This can’t be real.
I looked around checking for people. No one.
The world suddenly seemed very surreal. Like I was in a movie.
You know when people say they feel they are being watched. Yeah, it felt like that.
I was absolutely terrified, but like, what am I supposed to do now? What do you do when you find a human body dumped in the road?
I don’t even think I owned a mobile phone. Or if I did I had left it at home.
All the houses were dark and I mean, this couldn’t be real, right?
My brain was kind of in denial and I expected that as I got closer I would see that I was mistaken.
It must be a mannequin or something human shaped. Surely.
I needed to confirm what my eyes were seeing. So I stepped even closer and bent down until the body shaped bag was just a foot away from my face. Literally squinting my eyes to inspect the thing.
And oh fuck, that was 100% a wrapped up human body. I froze. I just stood there staring down at it.
I was obviously totally transfixed on it, and was probably about to bolt at full speed away. Until, I became aware of something else.
A weird feeling like someone or something was stood behind me.
I spun my head around and there was nothing there.
I saw a quick glimpse of white over my other shoulder.
I quickly turned the other way and again saw nothing.
It was the same feeling as when someone taps you on the shoulder and then turns the same way to hide in your blind spot.
When I tell you this was the scariest moment of my life I am not exaggerating.
I stood completely still. Like a statue. Just, staring at this body in the road.
Wondering, what I had just seen and how any of this was possible.
Then it appeared.
Just a glimpse.
It was behind me, over my right shoulder.
I could only make out a dark silhouette.
I tried to turn my head to look at it but it stayed in my peripheral vision. Whatever way I turned it stayed behind me.
I can remember everything so clearly even 10 years on. I knew that whatever was happening was some Silent Hill type shit now.
Normal rational thinking wasn’t going to help me out of this one.
So I stood. Eyes fixed forward. Trying to see it, without actually looking at it.
It stepped towards my right side. It was tall and hunched over. It was a man. Or at least, it had the stature of a man.
He leaned in, until his face was inches from my right ear.
I felt completely panicked. None of this made sense.
His skin was white and he was wearing a black coat with a big collar.
He began to open his mouth really wide. Unnaturally wide.
He made all the motions that he was screaming with all his might directly into my ear.
Only, he didn’t make a sound. Not a breath. Not a whimper.
Like he was on mute.
His white hands slowly reached out, like he was about to grab my arms but he stopped an inch away and just hovered them there.
Then, that fucking body bag in the road twitched.
That was enough to snap me out of my frozen state and I ran. I was out of there. In total shock. Disbelief. Horrified.
I sprinted about 50 metres down that road until I had to stop to take a breath.
I stood still and checked my peripherals to see if he had followed.
He was gone.
I turned and looked back.
The body bag was still in the road, jerking and flinching now.
Nope, nopety, nope.
I walked home as quickly as I could. The whole time trying to rationalize what had happened somehow.. My drink was spiked? Some kind of abduction trap gone wrong? An actual murder scene that had caused me to panic and trip out?
I have considered every possibility. I still can’t explain any of it.
I never felt his breath.
I never heard his footsteps.
What on god’s earth was in that bag?
I tried to forget about it and carry on with my life. I didn’t tell anyone. I repressed that shit deep down inside myself.
I never saw him again. But I always look out for him in my peripherals.
I did once see him in a dream. I think it was a dream.
I looked out of my bedroom window and he was stood in the middle of the street.
This time I got a proper look at him. Tall, wearing a long black coat, black boots, hunched shoulders, white skin, sunken, dark eyes.
He stood emotionless. His face tilted to the side but his eyes slanted steeply up at me.
As though he was looking at me in his peripheral vision.
Creepy as fuck, right?
Kind of a Nosferatu vibe.
I’ll be honest. When this happened I quickly decided I was probably schizophrenic.
I thought that this was clearly a hallucination and I was heading into some sort of psychosis.
That never happened.
I never went mad.
I never developed a mental illness.
I dunno, what do you guys think? Hallucination? Ghost? Alien? A fucking vampire? Could it have all been real somehow?
I still have no idea. But I will always remember that fear surging through me.